For those of you who were misled by the title of The Black Eyed Peas’ latest offering, you’re not alone. Rather than spell the final album for the Peas, the three letter acronym The E.N.D actually stands for “The Energy Never Dies”. Which is unfortunate for those who tire of their bubblegum pop rhythms and substantial lack of lyrical content. But it wasn’t always like this.

Starting out in 1995 with will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo, their debut album Behind The Front, was released in 1998, and featured a hip hop sound with a little funk thrown in, largely due in part to their talented backing band Bucky Jonson. The album gained positive reviews from critics and spawned the single Joints & Jam, which featured on the Bulworth soundtrack. Their next album Bridging the Gap was a further extension of their hip hop/funk hybrid sound, with soul songstress Macy Gray adding vocals to the single Request Line and Esthero featuring on Weekends. In 2003, the group added singer Fergie to their full time roster, as they released their breakout album Elephunk. Spawning the hit single Where Is The Love? (featuring Justin Timberlake), as well as Shut Up, Hey Mama and Let’s Get Retarded. For this reviewer, this was the beginning of the end for the Black Eyed Peas. 2005 saw the release of Monkey Business, which featured the singles Don’t Phunk With My Heart, My Humps, Don’t Lie and Push It, but contained nothing more than the same hip hop/r’n’b/pop ditties that they produced with their previous album. So with their fifth studio album, they’ve gone for a bit of a change in sound, going for a more electro pop feel. Is this a change for the better?

Kicking off with their monster hit Boom Boom Pow, the song sets the standard for what is to come. With its thumping techno beat offset by the latest auto-tune craze, I have to give the Peas credit for this. It’s easily the catchiest beat on the album, and their biggest hit to date. Have the Peas sold out? Or is that a question that should have been asked two albums ago when Fergie joined the group? On Rock That Body, they sample Rob Base with the repeated lyric “I wanna rock right now”, then bastardise it by leading into auto-tune aided verses, even Fergie is getting in on it. Then they slow it down slightly on Meet Me Halfway, mellowing the techno beat out a little as Fergie’s yearning vocals take centre stage. This leads into Imma Be, with its robotic chants of “Imma Be” repeated over another catchy techno like beat. I Gotta Feeling is another slower track, but the lyrical content is lacking. “I gotta feeling / that tonight’s gonna be a good night” is repeated about ten times before the actual verses start. Then it picks up the pace as it talks about, you guessed it, “how tonight’s gonna be a good good night”. Pulitzer Prize winning stuff there.

Alive again utilises auto-tune, as Fergie reprises My Humps with the lyrics “Why did I have to lose / your love, your love, your love”. Ring A Ling starts off with an electronic synth beat before will.i.am repeats “ring a ling a ling ling / ding a ling a ling ling / hello hello”. It’s about this point where I feel like I have gotten dumber listening to this record. And we’re only half way through. The remaining songs take on the same attributes of the ones that have already finished. Take an electro beat, Fergie’s vocals, and will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo rapping about mundane topics like partying all night and sleeping all day ( Party All The Time ) and new technology like wi-fi and Facebook ( Now Generation ). Only on Electric City do they try something different and refreshing, employing an almost drum n bass beat, but this is ruined by Fergie’s attempt at sounding reggae. And on Mare, apl.de.ap goes back to his Filipino roots with half the lyrics in English and half in his native Tagalog.

Despite this reviewer’s lack of enthusiasm for the Peas’ latest studio effort, I have to give them props. Why? Because they’ve managed to continue creating radio-friendly beats that clog the airways, selling millions of records in the process, earning masses of money and becoming household names. Hell, will.i.am even managed to land a role in the latest Wolverine movie. They have a knack for coming up with extremely catchy beats, evidenced by their numerous chart topping singles around the globe. They’ve chosen their path, steering away from the critically acclaimed hip hop/funk sound that they started out with, exchanging that for pop and I guess money. I suppose if I was in the same situation and the lure of dollars was waved in front of my face, I’d probably do what they did. Because they do it oh so very well. But in terms of breaking new musical ground… They stopped trying for that about seven years ago.